TBC and Sailun are taking steps, though, to demonstrate to U.S. dealers that the Atrezzo line, while priced measurably lower than competitors' products, offers on-road performance that is close or equal to that of major brands.
TBC has been Qingdao, China-based Sailun Tire's U.S. distributor for most of the past decade, but the elevated U.S. tariffs on Chinese consumer tires from 2009-12 cut heftily into the brand's sales and delayed new product development.
With the expiration of the tariffs last September, Sailun accelerated the development of new products for the American market, Sam Zhou, vice general manager for Sailun, said, resulting in the Z4+AS and the W-rated ZS-R summer UHP tire with asymmetric tread due out late this year/early in 2014.
These two lines complement the T- and H-rated SH402 and T-rated Touring LS all-season performance tires in the Atrezzo passenger line along with Teramax CVR, H/T and A/T and Atrezzo SVR LX light truck/SUV lines.
TBC, along with Dynamic Tire Corp. in Canada and Sailun, have coined the tag line, "With you through every turn," and are backing up the premise with a limited treadwear guarantee, optional road-hazard coverage and marketing efforts to portray the brand as reliable and safe.
"It's important to remember that quality has nothing to do with country of origin," Mr. Mielko said, "but everything to do with the technology in the factory. "
In relaunching the brand aggressively in the U.S., Sailun and TBC are relying on the "three pillars" of quality, trust and support to try and build brand equity.
In this scenario, Mr. Mielko said, quality refers to the firm's factory in Qingdao and its relationship with university-level engineering resources,trust is built through third-party testimonials/recommendations-- including "blind comparison" testing such as that carried out at Palm Beach Raceway -- and support comes in the form of broader warranty coverage and reliable distributors like Flynn's Tire Group or Sullivan Tire Inc.
Sailun's consumer tire sales in North America are in the 2 million unit range, Mr. Zhou said, and the company is working to achieve 15- to 20-percent growth in 2014.
